Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Square Payroll

[alexak]

On December 18th, we hosted a live Q&A about Square Payroll. If you’re looking for a fresh start in 2021, this is the best time of year to switch payroll providers. It simplifies the setup and tax filing process so you can kick off the new year on the right foot. 

In this Q&A we covered the basics of pricing, how the product works, and how to switch to Square Payroll for the new year. We also introduced you to the newest features we launched in 2020 that help you manage your cash flow, pay your team faster, schedule your team, and help your team access benefits at no cost to you.

So what are these new features? 

• Instant Payments and On-Demand Pay to give you flexibility and control around your payroll schedule. 
• Your employees and contractors can now directly sign up for benefits for themselves - at no cost to you! Square employees can get access to benefits like 24/7 in-app healthcare through Galileo and health insurance, retirement savings, and tax withholdings through Catch.
• Square Scheduling (coming soon!) makes everything you need to manage your team from scheduling, tracking and payroll easily accessible in 1 place. 
• We partnered with Bambee to help you access a dedicated HR Manager to customize your internal HR policies and a suite of powerful HR software tools to help you store important documents.

Square Payroll General Manager, @caroline, answered questions and helped sellers get the most out of Square Payroll for their businesses.

A few example questions: 

• What are direct to employee benefits and how much do they cost? 
• What does “full-service” payroll mean, and what is included in my subscription? 
• How long does it take for my employees to receive their direct deposit? 
• How do I use Instant Payments?

[ODPHADEZ]

I am currently running my payroll thru ADT. If I wanted to switch over, how does that process look and also, what are the benefits of switching over to Square’s payroll feature? 

[caroline]

Hi @ODPHADEZ, thank you for your interest in Square Payroll. It’s a great time to switch payroll providers. To switch to Square Payroll, you’ll need to provide your business and employee information to Square including your EIN, State Employer Identification Number, business and bank details and employee personal information. You can find a full checklist and video tutorial of how to get started here. 

Once you have your Square Payroll account ready, you would want to make sure your last pay date of the year is with your old provider, and your first pay date of the year is with Square Payroll. For example, if you have a pay period of December 16 to December 31, 2020, with a pay date of January 5, 2021, that cycle should be with Square Payroll since it will be reported on your 2021 W-2s (which Square Payroll will prepare). Your previous provider will prepare the 2020 W-2s.

[John2018]

We currently schedule and time clock with HomeBase, and job roles don't transfer to Square payroll, and always have to be manually entered, will that be fixed if we use Square scheduling? Also, what about multi-role individuals (e.g., server and sometimes cook), those always seem to take manual adjustment but should be automated, any help coming there?

[caroline]

Hi @John2018, the good news is that Square does offer support for multiple jobs / wages. In the Team or Payroll Team section, you can add additional jobs with different wages to each of your employees. Once set, you’ll also have the ability to schedule your team by each of their job titles in Shift Scheduling. You can learn more about multiple wage support here.

[John2018]

Thanks Caroline, we are a few months into using Square now for sign in and the time clock versus HomeBase, and the problem with the roles has been resolved. Thanks for the resources

[Joe]

Good to hear you got this one solved, @John2018! Don't hesitate to reach out if anything else comes up.

[Bhcbistro]

Thank You so much for the scheduling feature. It is exactly what i needed. Can you please however implement a printable feature for published schedules. thank You

[caroline]

Glad to hear you’re enjoying it @Bhcbistro! We definitely hear you on the need to print your schedule, and are planning to add print support within the next couple of months. Keep an eye out in your Square Dashboard for future scheduling updates.

[BobaChef]

For Square Balance, please allow automatic transfers with a set minimum balance.

It allows for funds to be available to run Square Payroll with Instant Deposits using Square Balance.

[caroline]

Hi @BobaChef. Thanks for your great feedback! We definitely understand how it can be helpful to set a minimum balance while still enabling automatic transfers. We’re constantly improving the product and will take this into consideration.

[Berolina]

Been using Square payroll since the beginning of this year, when employees clock in and out correctly it works well but when they forget it is very hard to correct, the system is very clunky and frustrating. Also had problems with their IRS filings, we got refunds and underpayments on every quarter so far this year, when you contact Square about it there is zero communication from them. I've used payroll providers for 30 years and never had an issue with the quarterly returns.

[caroline]

I’m so sorry you’re having trouble with employees clocking in/out correctly. If you choose to use our new Scheduling feature and your team clocks in/out from the Square Team app, team members will have the option to receive reminder notifications if they haven’t clocked in 5 minutes after the start time or clocked out 5 minutes after the end time. Here is more information about Scheduling and the Square Team app. 

As for your issues related to tax compliance, I see several email exchanges and that you most recently contacted us on 12/4. I’ve asked someone to reply to you directly and again, I apologize for your troubles - we automatically file and pay tax in a timely manner and have a dedicated team to support you when issues arise.

[SaucysBarBQ]

We are required to pay a biweekly payroll, and as of last year you were unable to offer that support. Are you able to run biweekly payroll now. Ready to jump to Square payroll from ADP when that feature's up and running. Let me know!

[caroline]

Hello @SaucysBarBQ!

Square Payroll currently supports weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, and monthly payroll cadences. A biweekly payroll cadence means you pay your employees every two weeks, which translates to 26 pay periods annually. Square Payroll has supported biweekly payroll since the product was launched, so it’s possible you’re referring to a semi-monthly cadence with specific pay dates (i.e. 1st and 15th, 15th and 30th). If that is the case, we can support semi-monthly payroll, but do not support setting specific pay dates each month specifically for direct deposit runs. During the year there are several months that will have these specific pay dates land on a weekend while direct deposit transfers can only fall on a weekday. That being said, if you are planning to pay your employees with manual or printed checks you will have the ability to give employees their paycheck on these specific days. 

[AMoveToRemember]

I use this platform for my moving company. How can a company figure out virtual tips per job for teammates, instead of either having to manually do the math or split it in a pool?

[caroline]

Hi @AMoveToRemember, the closest option we have is attributing tips directly to the employee who made the sale or recorded the transaction - see the “Pay Tips Directly” option in this support article. We don’t yet have the ability to split tips by a specific job, but will take that into consideration as we expand our tip splitting functionality next year!

[Advhth]

What are the approximate fees/employee associated with procuring Square for Payroll?

Highest regards,

   Dr. Kevin Plummer

[caroline]

Hi @Advhth,

Square’s Employee and Contractor payroll is $29 per month plus $5 per employee or contractor paid per month. This price includes all Square Payroll features and you’re only charged for the team members you pay within the given month. For example, if pay 5 team members, your monthly fee for Square Payroll would be $54/mo. 

Square’s Contractor Only Payroll has no base subscription fee and is just $5 per month per contractor paid. This also includes all Square Payroll features including filing & mailing form 1099-MISC at year end. For example, if you pay 5 contractors, your monthly fee for Square Payroll would be $25/mo.

You can learn more about our pricing and all that is included here!

[ccmn2021]

How do I participate in the LIVE Q&A on Friday December 21 regarding payroll?

[Tom]

Hey @ccmn2021 — thanks for your interest! If you can't be here for the event tomorrow, December 18th, feel free to simply post your question(s) by replying here today.

I'll make sure our Payroll team sees them and you'll get an email notification once the answer is posted. You'll be able to access all of the content/resources in this thread well after the event wraps up. Hope this helps! 🙏

[Doran]

With apps like Catch can I as the employer add funds to my employee's account?  I would like to offer health insurance and 401k contributions to my employees ( i only have 2) but don't know where to start.